In Gujarat, all decisions were being taken by Narendra Modi, and in Bihar, everything was in the hands of Nitish Kumar and lalu Prasad Yadav. So Kishor got what he wanted. But in the Congress, the scenario is different. There are so many hierarchies in Congress leadership and sources say Kishor will face dissent at every level
There are speculations aplenty about how election strategist Prashant Kishor will work for the Congress. In Gujarat, all decisions were being taken by Narendra Modi, and in Bihar, everything was in the hands of Nitish Kumar and lalu Prasad Yadav. So Kishor got what he wanted. But in the Congress, the scenario is different. There are so many hierarchies in Congress leadership and sources say Kishor is bound to face dissent at every level.
The first objection was posed by leaders of Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. In Punjab, opponents of Capt Amarinder Singh are against Kishor. They say he doesn’t know anything about the State. Similarly, leaders of UP Congress, who are divided in several factions, have raised questions over his political understanding. It is being said that his suggestion to project Priyanka Gandhi as the CM candidate has been outrightly rejected.
The media and social media cell of the Congress have also reservations about Kishor. Sources say leaders who are a part of the communication department are apprehensive that they would be rendered useless due to Kishor. Interestingly, opponents of these leaders want Kishor to be given full responsibility of the campaign and media. Kishor may feel uncomfortable in this scenario. It is also being said that the party has abundant funds and could give him a free hand.
KEJRIWAl VS NEWS CHANNElS
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is planning to take action against some news channels. They had run some videos of the programme held in JNU on February 9, and the Delhi Government has got seven of them examined. It is reported that three of these videos were allegedly doctored. On the basis of this, the Delhi Government is planning to take action against two Hindi channels and one English channel. The two Hindi channels are among the top five TRP gainers, while the English channel has been claiming number one slot for a long time.
Meanwhile, Kejriwal met CPM General Secretary Sitaram Yechury and JDU leader KC Tyagi to support the decision on action if it is taken after the report of the investigation committee.
Interestingly, the examination of the video by the Kejriwal Government is without any basis. The committee formed by the Delhi Government didn’t ask any channel for the footage. It is said that they simply downloaded footage from YouTube and sent it for forensic tests. The real video has been sent for forensic test to Hyderabad by JNU administration and the report is awaited. Questions are being raised on the proposed action of the Delhi Government even before the report from the Hyderabad lab arrives. It is being said that Kejriwal is trying to settle his personal grudge against the news channels.
Apart from these three, he is being “harassed” by two more channels. He has already sent a notice to one news channel for running false news. He publicly announced that sources in news channels say that the owners have given instructions to their employees to run news against him. He has also run advertisements on TV targeting these news channels. He has done whatever he could but the results have not favoured him. That is why he is trying to implicate the news channels on the JNU issue.
THE WEST BENGAl AGREEMENT
It is almost certain that the Congress and CPM will fight together in West Bengal. CPM State Secretary in West Bengal, Biman Bose, said both parties have reached a consensus. This is not exactly a pre-poll alliance but both parties have agreed upon seat adjustments. In the first list of CPM, names of many new candidates have been announced, and many places, which are Congress dominated, have been left.
After its formation in 1964, this is the first time when CPM has gone into an alliance with the Congress. After the 2004 elections, CPM had given support to the Congress Government, but has never gone into a pre-poll seat adjustment with it. This time, the CPM has crossed all ideological lines which were in place for the past 50 years, and this is being considered as a big sign of change for the future. Though the two parties have made seat arrangements, they will avoid a joint campaign. Both parties have given a message to their workers to help each other; their workers will participate in each other’s rallies, but the leaders will not campaign jointly.
CONGRESS’S HIDDEN WEAPON
Will the Congress take a chance with Priyanka Gandhi to win UP electionsIJ Many party leaders want her to be projected as the CM candidate in UP. It is being said that when Rahul met State leaders, this issue came up for discussion. Sources say Prashant Kishor also wants that the party should take a chance with Priyanka. When he met Congress leaders in lucknow, many of them requested him to convince the Congress high command for this. But sources in the party say Sonia will not take any chance. However, the decision will have to be taken jointly by Sonia, Rahul and Priyanka, and apparently all of them are not in favour of this.
Some Congress leaders believe Priyanka will be the party’s brahmastra, which can’t be destroyed in the State elections. This brahmastra can’t be used against Mayawati and Akhilesh Yadav, and the party wants to save it for Narendra Modi. They also think that without a strong organisation, only the name of Priyanka won’t guarantee victory in the triangular fight. Even if Congress wins in UP, there is no guarantee that the party will win 2019 lok Sabha Elections. So, Priyanka will keep herself limited to only Amethi, Raebareli and Sultanpur.
lESSONS FROM MlC ElECTIONS
It was being speculated that the Samajwadi Party would sweep the MlC elections in UP. Normally, the ruling party wins such elections as the elected representatives are voters. Six years ago, the BSP had won 34 out of the total 36 seats. This time SP has won 31 out of 36 seats; the Congress got one seat, BSP got two, and Independents got two as well. The BJP has not got any seat. Now, BJP leaders are saying that there was rampant misuse of power during elections and votes were bought for money. But many leaders of the BJP think the party should not have fought these elections.
SP candidates won without any opposition on eight of the 36 seats. There was no BJP candidate on these seats, so what was the need to field candidates on other seats, some leaders are asking.
Some BJP leaders are of the view that this will affect the party’s plan, though senior leaders don’t subscribe to this view. To support their view, they are citing the example of Bihar. In Bihar, MlC elections were held just before Assembly Elections, and more than half of the total 24 seats were won by the BJP. Despite that, in the Assembly Elections, the BJP was defeated. On the other hand, RJD and JDU learnt a lesson from the results and prepared better. That is why some BJP leaders are taking the MlC results in a positive way.
TOWARDS CONGRESS-FREE INDIA
In his election campaign, Narendra Modi had time and again said that he wished to create a Congress-free India. In the last lok Sabha Elections, the Congress got only 44 seats and this was claimed as the first step towards a Congress-free India campaign. But the Modi Government has devised other ways to move this campaign forward. One is to change the names of projects and schemes which are running on the names of Congress leaders. Names of many projects and schemes have gradually been changed in the past 20 months. But in this Budget, the Government at once changed the names of many schemes which were on Rajiv Gandhi’s name.
Barring one or two projects, none have been named after leaders. The Government has ensured that names of projects don’t lead to controversies. So, Rajiv Gandhi Panchayat Sashaktikaran Abhiyan has now become Panchayat Sashaktikaran Abhiyan, and Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship for Students with Disabilities has become National Fellowship for Students with Disabilities. Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship for Scheduled Castes is now National Fellowship for Scheduled Caste, while Rajiv Gandhi Khel Abhiyan has been merged with a big scheme, Khelo India.
Earlier, the Government had changed the name of Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana to Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana. The Government has also decided to change the name of Indira Awaas Yojana to Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana.